Let's Do the Time Warp

(Again)

So, I stopped by Ava & Mama's today to drop off a Valentine's Day card. And it got me thinkin - you haven't seen Christmas pics! So here ya go... Christmas morning I hit the house bright and early(ish) to open Santa's gifts. Before that, we had our celebration with the G-Rents at my place. Sonya & Zo came over. Uncle Doug stopped by too. Here's the photographic evidence!

Cheers.



Christmas morning at Ava's :)

Christmas breakfast!

Mimosa's! (of course, Ava's is with sparkling grape juice, but she LOVED having the fancy glass!)

STOKED about having her ears pierced. It's the beginning of the end for Daddy's jewelry budget.

Ay yi yi -- this game is complicated! What was Santa thinking?!

Opening "knee highs" with Mama.

"Dad! Look! Uno Attack!! You're going down punk!" (And yes, she's good!)

Yep - music and books. Nice!

Sonya, OG & Uncle Doug at the table for Christmas at Daddy's.

Sharing Grandma's lap with Zoey and ripping through gifts!

Uncle Doug tattling?

I get a chance too!

Daddy: "Here, look at this cool..."
Ava: "I've moved on. Keep up."

PS - I'm moonlighting on another blog.

http://www.biggbybob.com/2010/02/guest-blog-from-twitter-handle-danmoyle.html

Guess who's back...

Oy! It's been a long time. But I'm told (thanks Sonya, Steph, OG) I need to get back at it. So, altho it's Ava's Blog - here's what's new. All around.

Ava's getting close to 5 years old. She's doing well with Bread & Roses - her school/daycare. It's great. Mama and I love it. We're so glad we found it. She's writing her name, first and last. Backward sometimes, but doing well. And she asks "what does this spell" constantly! I love it. Mostly. Ha!

So as most you probably know - Mama and I split. We share Ava time well. (Except for my work schedule wreaking havoc) and work on our parenting quite a bit. We try to make it all about keeping Ava on the right track in life. I found a great church - Valley Family Church - and Ava loves the "Kidamazoo" kid's church. A lot of friends actually go there, and I'm making friends within in the congregation too.

I'm with someone, her name's Sonya & she's an amazing person. She has a daughter almost exactly a year younger than Ava. They get along great. 2 very independent, intelligent and creative only children - so while they have their moments, they're great together. Sonya & Zoey are terrific additions to our lives. They've been around since last May or so. But we just recently (well, it was me 'waiting') decided to call it more than "hanging out." (Sonya still teases me about that haha!)

Ava's very active and doing well with so much. She's into art at school; loves to read; loves music and singing; plays Uno all the time (real cards & my ipod); ice skates pretty darn well; and just brings joy to my life everyday.

So that's what I got for ya! I'll post a few pics of all of us. I'm going to try and blog, whether it's pictures or thoughts on/from Ava. Comments help encourage me to do so - if you leave it anonymously (with no email) go ahead and leave you name. I love to know who's keeping up.

So on this Valentine's weekend - Love to you all. Cheers.

Out one evening after a play date.

Matching glasses? Haha! Her's are "fashion specs" -- fake. Mine: not so fake.
Sonya & I in Vegas - at the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Look at those beautiful girls!
The 4 of us last fall at Turkeyville USA! We were on a train. It was small. I felt like a giant. (Also why I love small bottles of booze!)
So there's a quick snapshot. Hope you're doing well. Stay in touch, and I'll work on staying current with the blog.

PS - if you are on Twitter follow me - I'm @danmoyle -- or if you aren't, get on it keep up with instant pics of Ava all the time. I also post on Facebook.

Aloha.

Bout once a week Ava and I visit the g'rents. That's grandparents for those not keeping up. :) On a recent visit, Grandpa got the camera out. Here's the aftermath.

We took Ava's new-ish bike over to Grandma & Grandpa's. Notice the lack of training wheels...

Off she goes down the long driveway!

Hey!

Chillin' and visitin' with Grandma.

Plotting...


I don't know what was *actually* being said here, but the conversation in my head is pretty funny.
G'ma: "You need to go off into those woods back there and live!"
Ava: "I don't THINK so!"




Cool shot G'pa!

Farmer girl :)


Enjoy the Labor Day weekend all. I'll miss camping this year. But I bet I'll find some fun.

Cheers.
xo

Summer Events

Aloha.

So Ava's kept me busy, as have I. But here's one event we went to together... Rock for Kids. Ava had a good time... even getting her first face painting! Check it out...

Crafts! Ava made a cool "record" ... and a thermal coozie for daddy's drinks.

Time to paint the face!

What will it be?!

Trying to see what's on her own cheek I think :)

Is it?? Could it be???



Yup! It's Elmo :)

She even got a balloon "crown" from a clown.

So there you have it. Our time at the final festival at Arcadia. Very fun :) For now... enjoy your days and cherish your nights.

Cheers.

Some Ava-isms

Aloha.

So... no pictures this time. If you come here only for photos... the picture book is on the shelf. Today I'm sharing thoughts. But don't worry, they're not mine. I need a different blog for that. I had one... where'd I put it? Oh well. It's around here somewhere. But that's neither here nor there. This blog is about Ava. And today, I'm passing along some of HER thoughts and sayings.

Let me take a detour here tho.. and speak directly to Ava. Someday she'll (hopefully) read this and get some understanding on just how much I love her. And just what she means to me...

Dearest Ava... "Little 1" ... Nene... I tell you often you're the light of my life. I like to tell you how glad I am that you choose to love me. But that doesn't even cover it. Recently I had to take a week off work with no pay. Right now, having just gone through a divorce and getting out on my own on what little I make already, losing a week's pay was a daunting, frightening prospect. So I chose a week I knew you needed me. Your school was done for the summer, and I would have the chance to spend every day with you. So I talked to mama and set it up. My furlough week would be an Ava week. I was so stoked. We had plans with friends and family, and I just knew we'd have a great time. I tell you what Lovey... you blew away any reservations I had about that unpaid week. Each morning was a joy, and by every bedtime I couldn't wait for our next adventure. From reading books and telling Lulu stories... to bowling to Gracie's birthday party, the week was amazing. Thank you for all you are Ava.

Okay, so back to the reason I'm blogging today. (well , the reasons are that I wrote with Kimmy last night and I'm inspired today... and I really don't want to work right now! haha!)

One day Ava said to me: "Daddy, I spent all my energy. I got it all out. Except a little. And it can't wait. It has to get out." (I think she wanted to play a little more before bedtime. LOL)

Another time she wanted to reassure me that she'd always listen: "I will never NOT listen to you Daddy. I will always listen to you until I die Daddy." (Ava, remember this!)

My windshield has a big crack in it like a spiderweb. I got angry one night and hit it. It was very dumb. But I did it, and can't take it back. So Ava began to ask what happened. After trying to talk around it and be ambiguous, she wasn't buying it. Instead of lying or whatever, I told her the truth. That I got angry and punched it. Time to teach: I said "That wasn't very smart was it? We should handle our anger in better ways huh?" Here's what she said: "If you are angry at someone you can give me a hug. If I'm not with you and you get angry Daddy, don't punch your windshield. Just come over and to my house and give me a hug." (what a compassionate person!!)

Ava asked me if she could play with the Legos I brought home from Grandpa and Grandma's. I said yes, of course. Ava: "You are the most wonderful Daddy I ever knew!" (I know someone loves me. Just give her Legos! j/k)

Always the safety girl: "He's definitely going over the speed limit. Are you Daddy?" (Yeah honey, a little) "You should slow down a little." (where we you when I was 18?!)

Ava: "You should come look at my room Daddy. It's trashed. It used to be clean but now it's trashed. Mama did it and I don't like it." (hahahaha!! to be fair, Mama *was* in the process of cleaning & organizing it)

One day I told her she needed to pay for something (clearly kidding) ... Ava: "I don't have any money silly." (So?!) "Little kids don't have wallets. Duh!" (so here's where I wonder.. maybe I need more wallets!)

So there's some. Hope you enjoyed. I'm off to SoCal soon... cant wait!!! Maybe I can post some pics of just me. Even thought it's "Ava's Blog." LOL

Oh, and here's a thought... I'm on Facebook and Twitter. A ton. So look for me. There's a slew of photos on the 'book. Friend me and you can see them.

Cheers.